Chapter 3

3

Gavin eventually realized I was truly at my limit and hauled me up like a dead fish.

I collapsed on the sand, gasping for air, but he didn't give me a second to recover.

He kicked me right back into the surf, over and over again.

My lungs burned, and I lost count of how many times I was dragged up and thrown back.

The world was becoming a blur of gray waves and Ruby's mocking laughter.

Just as I was about to let the darkness take me, a surge pushed me deeper into a crevice.

I couldn't die. Not until I knew the truth about my mother.

In the shadows, I saw something white and round. Was it an Imperial White?

When I grabbed it, I realized it wasn't. It was a Frosted Glass Pearl―worthless, but a perfect lookalike.

Gavin didn't know the difference; he only knew the shape of wealth.

A desperate plan formed in my mind.

Minutes later, I broke the surface, my hands trembling as I held the orb high.

"Gavin! I found it! I found the Imperial White! Now let me go to my mother!"

His eyes widened with shock and joy as he lunged forward to snatch it from my hand.

"Yes! This is it! We're rich!" he shouted, spinning Ruby around.

He turned to leave, but then he stopped and looked back with a murderous glint in his eye.

"Now that I have this, I can buy the biggest penthouse in the city."

"I don't need a pathetic, salt-crusted anchor like you weighing me down anymore."

"Ruby is the only woman I ever wanted. She's the only one who belongs at my side."

With a final, brutal kick, he sent me back into the deep and cut the rope.

Ruby smirked at me as the current pulled me away.

"Enjoy the ocean, Lyra. Maybe the sharks will be better company than us."

"I'll be sure to think of you when I'm wearing your wedding ring."

Their silhouettes faded into the mist as I sank into the freezing dark.

Time became a distorted, endless nightmare.

But the image of my mother's face gave me one last spark of life.

I fought the current, clawing my way back to a different part of the shore.

I crawled onto the sand, shivering and broken, but alive.

I managed to flag down a ride and sped toward the city hospital, my heart pounding against my ribs.

But when I stepped into the administrator's office, the world collapsed.

"You're the daughter? Where have you been? Your mother passed away six months ago!"

The words hit me like a physical blow, and my legs gave out.

Gavin had stopped paying the hospital bills half a year ago.

He told them it was a waste of money and left my mother to die alone.

She had survived only a week after the treatments stopped.

I collapsed on the floor, letting out a primal, agonizing scream of grief.

The administrator looked at me with pity and sighed. "There was nothing we could do."

I walked out of that hospital a different person, a fire of pure hatred burning in my veins.

I hated myself for being so blind, for letting his lies kill the only person I loved.

I squeezed my hands so hard my nails drew blood.

An hour later, I walked out of a high-end jewelry auction house.

The Siren's Heart Pearl was gone, replaced by a bank draft for one million dollars.

I also carried a signed set of divorce papers.

From that moment on, I had only one goal: to make Gavin pay in blood.